13 comments:

I'm Marcell Bendik from Hungary. I'm a lindy hop / balboa dancer, local scene organiser (www.keepswinging.hu - currently not up-to-date), camp organiser (www.lindyshock.com), swing DJ, ... :)It is great to know what happens around the world as I'm quite sure swing dance is really international! Also in eastern Europe we miss the steady base of jazz history, so I can learn much about old times with Internet sources - like your blog.Thx for you having your blog in english (It would be great to speak swedish, you have so many good dancers, but I've stuck with tack, oj, and some other basic words :).

Around one hundred years ago, a bunch of American musicians discovered the joys of improvising and called it jazz. Over two thousand years ago, Indian classical musicians were busy laying down foundations for improvised music. If jazz is improvised music, Indian classical music is jazz! Now that we've discovered who really discovered jazz, it's time to take a good look at the state in India. The name of India's most popular live jazz venue located in Mumbai, tells the story loud and clear. It started as 'Jazz by the bay', changed to 'Not just jazz by the bay' and should now switch to 'Just not jazz by the bay'! Granted, jazz has a niche audience and commercial music rules, but then a few years later, that same commercial music is ruled out while jazz blissfully evolves, embracing all other forms of music along the way. We now have rock-jazz, pop-jazz, funk-jazz, latin-jazz, hip-hop-jazz, indo-jazz... to cut a very long story short, there is a -jazz attached to every genre of music and there will be a -jazz attached ot every genre that comes along. That's how huge jazz is and it should now be spelt jaaaaaaaaaaz! Jazz is the medium through which I express myself musically. Jazz allows me to be myself as opposed to pop that wants me to be Madonna. I'd rather be myself than strut onstage wearing conical jocks. In fact, not very long ago a leading music company in India released a male indi-pop star's album titled 'Mai bhi Madonna' (I'm Madonna too) with the man dressed in drag on the album cover. Jazz suddenly began to make profound sense to me. I chose to play bass as I felt it was the coolest sound of music. Rhythm, melody and harmony makes music and the bassplayer is the important link between the three. I may not be upfront or in the spotlight all the time like the singer in the band but I am certainly right behind the song all the way. It's been a long, exciting journey into jazz for me. I made a lot of friends as a musician and a whole lot of enemies. I did meet a lot of people. If it wasn't for my music I would have been a lighthouse keeper on Andaman island or what's worse, I would have been a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Yes, music helped me get out of my shell and face the world with a song. I currently work on two resident contracts at the JW Marriott hotel with my indo-jazz fusion ensemble called 'The Brown Indian Band' for obvious reasons and at night at the Taj Lands End hotel with my band called 'The Bassman's Band' for some strange reason. I often take time off from these two gigs to perform at concerts and corporate events all over India and internationally. One of the highlights of my career so far, has been performing internationally on the world renowned Hennessy XO jazz tour. My journey into jazz has been fun and my best is always yet to come. To give back to the music that gave me so much, I setup an organisation in Goa called 'Jazz Goa' that can be reviewed at www.jazzgoa.com After close to three decades of playing jazz with just about every jazz musician in the country, I would have loved to be called the Godfather of Indian jazz. The position has been filled I'm told, so I'll settle for Godson of Indian jazz!

My name is Clark Bjorke I am a former folk music disc jockey in the United States. I began blogging about music just a few eeks ago, using embedded YouTube videos, in a format very similar to your. I don't have a defined focus, like yours on swing. I just discovered your wonderful blog this evening.

Gret blog. I stopped in since I'm looking at European jazz sites since my young son is playing at the Bohem Ragtime festival in Hungary. I love the way you've captured the breadth of old, new and danceable jazz!

I'm Swedish, though I'll introduce myself in english anyhow, so that other people will be able to understand at least a bit. :) I currently live in Uppsala, and have been to a few dances you've DJ'd. I'm thinking of trying my hand at this whole swing DJ thing if I get some more spare time, I'm quite interested in all things jazz. :) First found your blog through the Swingkatten homepage, and through the blog, I found Yehoodi with all their podcasts, so it's really been important to my interests in danceable music. Thanks for your great effort!

hi! I'm Kait from Knoxville, TN. (We miss Mats, who you featured as a new DJ there the other day!) Another swing dancer/DJ/teacher. I think I wandered over from swingdjs.com at some point? Anyway, I've been lurking and enjoying all your commentary and photos for a few months now!

So, I should learn Swedish now? I'm Destiny, a born-again musician, if you will. How anyone can not acknowledge the pure genius of jazz, the way it sings through your soul....I don't think I will ever know. Amazing blog.

To Sandy, there is a few artists I can point you to: Benny Goodman, for one. Gene Krupa, the EarRegulars(look them up on YouTube), Les Brown occasionally has a good swing tune or two, Count Basie...the list could go on...

About Me

My name is Henrik Eriksson and I live in Uppsala, Sweden. I'm a disc jockey that plays swing, jazz and blues for dancers. This blog is about music that makes you want to dance. I'll give you tips about music and dancing resources: cd reviews, book reviews, video clips. I also like to do a lot of jazz photography.
If you got any comments, tips or suggestions, email them to me at swing@theheartofgold.org